'Big, magnificent man' killed by al-Qaeda

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Sherree Johansson with her husband Magnus at their Gold Coast home. Mr Johansson was killed in Saudi Arabia.

Sunday morning used to be a special time for Sherree Johansson. She would rise early at her Gold Coast home and at 5.30am call her husband Magnus, a senior chef at the Oasis resort in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Johansson, 50, had been away for 4 years. The couple had decided this was for the best as he could secure their future financially with the better wages on offer in the Middle East.

Even so, they were never happy about living apart.

Mrs Johansson knew something was wrong on Sunday when her telephone calls were not answered.

She couldn't get through to the resort either and started scanning the internet, only to find reports of al-Qaeda terrorists storming the residential compound where her husband worked and lived.

Her agonising wait ended just before 1am on Monday when the Swedish consulate confirmed her husband, a Swedish citizen, had been shot and killed by the terrorists.

One person who had business dealings with him over several years yesterday remembered him as easy-going, yet decisive. His family says confrontation wasn't in his nature.

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"Magnus would have been terrified," said Paul Talbert, Mrs Johansson's brother. "He was a magnificent man - a big, powerful man, but gentle. I can't imagine how terrifying the last hours must have been."

Mr Johansson arrived in Australia in 1987, meeting and then marrying Sherree four years later. He became executive chef, the most elevated position within the industry, at the ANA Hotel on the Gold Coast, working there for four years.

But the couple were concerned about retirement and, with an eye to bolstering their savings, Mr Johansson accepted a position as director of food and beverage at the Amara Hotel Saigon, in Vietnam.

They returned to the Gold Coast in the late 1990s where they bought a house. It was only 12 months before Mr Johansson became corporate chef at the Oasis in Saudi Arabia. It was a dream job - offering more money than he could earn in Australia and with responsibility for managing a large team.

The time dragged between visits home. He would make it back to the Gold Coast every six months and was next due there towards the end of June to help celebrate his wife's birthday.

He had become increasingly worried about security and spoke of it to Mrs Johansson. The threat of terrorism was "always in our minds", Mr Talbert said.

"Not only have we suffered, but there are lots of families in similar situations," he said.

The couple had no children. Mr Johansson will be buried in Sweden.

The Federal Government has warned Australians to avoid travel to Saudi Arabia and says those already there should consider leaving.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the embassy in Riyadh was monitoring the situation closely after the attack. "Australians who are in Saudi Arabia - and there are quite a number of them (nearly 3400 Australians are registered with the Australian embassy in Saudi Arabia - who are concerned for their safety should consider departing Saudi Arabia," he said.